A kind-hearted student-athlete, daughter, and dreamer. That's how her high school mentor described Sheila Guirindola, a volleyball player from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines battling stage-4 cancer at the age of 20.
"Sheila is a responsible daughter, loving, jolly, and kind-hearted to everyone. I see her as a tough kid because she decided to go to a school far from her family to grab the opportunity to help her family with the finances," said Revie Pioquinto, Guirindola's former coach, to SPIN Life.
At the time of this writing, Guirindola, a former team B member of the Far Eastern University Girls, is currently still hospitalized at St. Lukes Medical Center as battles Hodgkin's lymphoma and secondary anemia.
"She is still admitted. Naka-red tag si Sheila, kaya sa labas pa bumibili ng gamot, and almost P700k na po ang total billing niya. Bed-ridden ang batam kaya need talaga ang monetary [support]," Pioquinto said.
Patients under red tags are thoese who are in need of immediate treatment.
According to Pioquinto, the Marikina-based Guirindola was so driven to get a scholarship that she went all the way to Laguna to enroll under an athletic program.
She also had good diction, which is why she also dielined as a local league commentator and announcer.
"She has a great voice, that's why I always ask her to be a commentator in leagues I organize to have an extra income," she said.
Pioquinto shared that the young athlete has already gone her first chemotherapy session and is recovering from its side effects. She's helping out the family to try and raise more funds for the young athlete-scholar's treatment.
"Nakakausap naman siya, and she's [recovering], according to her sister, medyo humupa na daw ang pamamanas dahil sa chemo, waiting for next sessions," she added.
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